Becoming a Fundraiser: the Principles and Practice of Library Development

Becoming a Fundraiser: the Principles and Practice of Library Development

Becoming a Fundraiser: the Principles and Practice of Library Development

Steele, V. and Elder, S.D.American Library AssociationChicago20002nd edition

Keywords: Fundraising, Library donations

In this newly revised and updated version of their book, the authors inform the reader that by the time they finish reading and understanding their work, they will be able to choose a fundraising program that meets their needs large or small. They will also learn how fundraising truly works.

There is a logical order in the overall flow of the book. Chapter 1, for example, deals with the personality of the library director/fundraiser beginning with the natural reluctance of many librarians who find themselves having to seek outside sources for development. The chapter's emphasis is on leadership and the ability to lead. The subject of leadership style and tests that can reveal certain personality traits are included in the discussion.

The next few chapters discuss the art of fundraising; namely, screening prospects for solicitation, cultivating those prospects who seem most promising in terms of monetary donations or major gifts and stewardship. The reader is guided through the world of MAGIC (Means, Age, Giver, Involvement and Contacts) where that acronym and all that it implies is used by the librarian/director in evaluating every contact he or she makes. There is much useful information on the psychology of donations and the reasons for giving. Development programs are discussed at length but primarily in terms of what the authors refer to as "ambitious" programs as opposed to "less ambitious" programs such as those using friends groups. The focus overall is on those types of situations that will be most common in large public and academic libraries.

The reasons for fundraising (why are we doing this?) are probably the most important aspect of the process and the authors wisely include this early on in their discussion. The authors raise the salient issues that the leaders and/or the team have to address before and during the fundraising process. These issues can include, but are not limited to, what makes your library unique, how do you see the library developing over the long-term, what are the needs of patrons and how do you meet them, etc. The authors suggest that through the employment of methods such as environmental scanning and patron surveys, goals and objectives can then be devised which will in turn give the development team a clear understanding of what they really want to achieve.

The subjects of getting "yes", the ethics of fundraising, using friends groups and types of library events (what can work and what doesn't) are also covered in the remaining chapters of the book.

This book, while allegedly is meant to serve the needs of all libraries, is mostly concerned with the development needs of large public and academic libraries. The authors admit that their examples are largely drawn from the world of academia, since that area is the one with which they are most familiar. Indeed, one would have to agree. Regardless, the librarian in the small or rural library or, even middle-sized for that matter, would be hard put to relate to most of the material contained in this book. For example, many libraries, including this reviewer's, rely heavily on friends groups for fundraising purposes outside the scope of constrained budgets. The authors' feelings are that fundraising events that return less than $10,000 should not even be considered. Most libraries don't have the luxury of that choice.

The authors' style is very analytical, business like and somewhat sterile. One is left with the impression that the way to achieve what you want is through a calculated campaign of getting wealthy donors to contribute to your project, ideally through a major gift. On the other hand, they stress the ethics of the process, emphasizing that both donor and director should be satisfied and "happy". Perhaps in today's world, however, this objective analysis of a process that is for most of us, a necessary evil, is a good thing. The reader is most certainly left with the knowledge of how fundraising truly works.

A lot of information and analyses are packed into a relatively small space (a larger format would have been appreciated) making this book, despite the criticism leveled above, worthwhile for many public and academic libraries.

John L. McManusDirector, Millinocket Memorial Library, Millinocket, ME, USA